Donald Trump Jr. will be paid $100,000 for an October UNT speech

Donald Trump Jr. will earn $100,000 for a University of North Texas speaking appearance on Oct. 24.

Trump, the oldest son of President Donald Trump, will give a 30-minute speech and participate in a 30-minute question-and-answer session, according to contracts obtained by the UNT student newspaper, the North Texas Daily.

Although the university has not announced where the speech will be, the contract states that it will be at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The contract also says Trump Jr. will attend a dinner the night before the speech, a breakfast the morning of the speech and a VIP reception before the speech, the North Texas Daily reports.

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His travel, hotel and meals will be paid for by the college as well, up to $5,000, the report shows.

This is part of the college’s Kuehne Speaker Series.

Meanwhile, a planned Sept. 27 Dallas fundraiser for the president has been postponed because of Harvey, according to a local person who received an invitation to the event.

Political conflicts

A recent local town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke — the El Paso Democrat who is challenging Republican Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate next year — was moved at the last minute from the Benbrook middle-high school to Will Rogers Memorial Center.

The reason: Benbrook officials canceled the contract because using school facilities to hold a candidate event “is an indirect use of public funds,” which is not allowed, according to the response sent to organizers of the town hall.

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, is challenging Ted Cruz for the U.S. Senate next year. He held a town hall gathering Aug. 11 at the Will Rogers Complex in Fort Worth.

Paul Moseley pmoseley@star-telegram.com

Some had criticized the gathering, calling it a thinly veiled campaign event.

The letter signed by Benbrook Chief Financial Officer Elsie Schiro indicated that officials were concerned from the beginning about allowing a gathering with a political candidate at the school. But they agreed to allow a town hall.

“Recently, however, an article was published on the Star-Telegram, which indicated that U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke was holding the town hall meeting and sought support ‘from the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks for a criminal justice bill he introduced in the House.’”

So the school canceled the event.

Helping Harvey victims

Anyone who left their home because of Harvey — and headed to a hotel — will get a little relief from the state.

As the state braced for the storm, Gov. Greg Abbott suspended the state and local hotel and motel occupancy tax for both victims and relief personnel for two weeks.

“There is no doubt that Hurricane Harvey is creating a temporary housing emergency in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “The state of Texas has a duty to ensure we are offering as much relief as possible to the victims, first responders, and relief-effort personnel, of this terrible storm.”

“In the coming weeks and months, the focus of relief efforts will shift from heroic rescues and extensive evacuations to the long process of rebuilding our communities and neighborhoods,” Hegar said. “My office will continue to monitor the state’s economy to ensure Texas is in the best possible financial position to meet those challenges and emerge stronger on the other side of this disaster.

“Until that time, we will continue to pray for the safety and security of our fellow Texans and assist in any way we can.”